COPENHAGEN: Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen lost three of his four children in the Easter day attacks in Sri Lanka, a spokesman for his clothing retail group Bestseller said on Monday.
Danish media have reported that Holch Povlsen, his wife Anne and their four children were in Sri Lanka on vacation at the moment of the attacks, which struck churches and luxury hotels killing nearly 300 people.
"I can confirm that three children have been killed," Jesper Stubkier, the communications manager for Bestseller, said in a statement.
"We ask you to respect the privacy of the family and we therefore have no further comments."
Considered to be Denmark's richest man, 46-year-old Holch Povlsen is the main shareholder in the online fashion retailer ASOS as well as the owner of Bestseller.
He inherited Bestseller from his parents who founded the firm in 1975.
The group, which includes brands such as Vero Moda, Only and Jack & Jones, has more than 3,000 stores in 70 countries.
In addition to the majority stake in Britain-based ASOS, Holch Povlsen also owns an interest in its German rival Zalando.
The billionaire also describes himself as "one of Scotland's largest landowners" on the website of the Wildland company he uses to invest in UK property.
"We wish to restore our parts of the (Scotland) Highlands to their former magnificent natural state and repair the harm that man has inflicted on them," Holch Povlsen and his wife say on the website.
"There are many vulnerable properties across all of the holdings that we have the wonderful and privileged opportunity to rehabilitate and restore to life."
Sri Lankan officials said Monday they believe that the local Islamist extremist group National Thowheeth Jama'ath (NTJ) was behind the attacks.
Dozens of foreigners are among those killed, while some 500 people were injured.
Danish billionaire loses three children in Sri Lanka blasts
Danish billionaire loses three children in Sri Lanka blasts
- Danish media have reported that Holch Povlsen, his wife Anne and their four children were in Sri Lanka on vacation at the moment of the attacks
- Povlsen is the main shareholder in the online fashion retailer ASOS as well as the owner of Bestseller
US military kills 6 in strike on alleged drug boat in the Eastern Pacific
- Sunday’s attack brought the death toll to at least 157 people since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in small vessels in early September
WASHINGTON: The US military said it killed six men Sunday in a strike on an alleged drug-smuggling vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean as part of the Trump administration’s campaign against alleged traffickers.
Sunday’s attack brought the death toll to at least 157 people since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in small vessels in early September.
As with most of the military’s statements on the more than 40 known strikes in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, US Southern Command said it targeted alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. The military did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs. It posted a video on X that showed a small boat being blown up as it floated on the water.
President Donald Trump has said the US is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”
In a meeting with Latin American leaders on Saturday, Trump encouraged them to join the US in taking military action against drug-trafficking cartels and transnational gangs, which he said pose an “unacceptable threat” to the region’s national security.
To that end, Ecuador and the United States conducted military operations this past week against organized crime groups in the South American country.
With Saturday’s gathering, Trump aimed to demonstrate that he remains committed to focusing US foreign policy on the Western Hemisphere, even while waging a war on Iran that has had repercussions across the Middle East.
Critics have questioned the overall legality of the boat strikes as well as their effectiveness, in part because the fentanyl behind many fatal overdoses is typically trafficked to the US over land from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India.
The boat strikes also drew intense criticism following the revelation that the military killed survivors of the very first boat attack with a follow-up strike. The Trump administration and many Republican lawmakers said it was legal and necessary, while Democratic lawmakers and legal experts said the killings were murder, if not a war crime.
